After staying low in the June 2023 quarter, the hump in the September quarter, mainly driven by higher vegetable and foodgrain inflation and an uneven monsoon, has changed the inflation narrative for India for this fiscal, said CRISIL report. Vegetables have 15.5 per cent weight in the food index, highest after cereals and milk and remains the most volatile component and so, the impact of this on food inflation is not a new phenomenon. “The inflation volatility is bad for consumers and farmers, and also distracts policymakers in the short term, forcing frequent and repeated price smoothening measures,” the report …
